Smuggler's Den

In the early years of the civil wars and before the insurance technology was finished, being a criminal on the run was a very dangerous situation. There were few places to hide, until a group of smugglers built a large underground complex in Southern Foul Hills.

The complex grew huge over the years, housing all the small time criminals that could find their way there, opportunists and smugglers. In truth, the irrigation system that makes up the Den is one of Rubi-Ka·s oldest and forgotten water reserves, successfully converted into storage, living space and hangar by the smuggler organization.

Experimenting with technology to build special weapons and armor, the criminals soon began smuggling their wares out to whoever would pay the extreme prices they demanded. There was a lot of contact between the Den and the neutrals of Rubi-Ka at one time, enough for the smugglers to build a one way transport from their facilities to Borealis.

A few years back, the smugglers got a cargo of illegal herbs from the agricultural planet Tillagos. Normally this would be business as usual, but circumventing the ICC quarantine can sometimes have its price and this time the smugglers got paid in full. Not long after the fateful shipment arrived the first Rubi-Ka born Mantises hatched from the Tillagos crates.

Though the smugglers eradicated most of the budding insect colony, some disappeared deep into the den·s neighbouring cave system. Only weeks later the first reports of Mantis colonies were emerging. The insect has since spread at an amazing rate and now exist throughout many of the terraformed regions of Rubi-Ka, threatening the carefully engineered eco-system.

In the years since the Mantis arrival, the insects have made the dank caves beyond the Smuggler·s Den their main breeding ground. A young insect queen and her subordinates have infested the caves completely. Though the smugglers aware of the threat the mantises represent, they have too much invested in their den to abandon it. The crew of hardened mercenaries will fight to the death to defend their loot.